


Two-Player Game

by heymrbusiness



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: AU, Angst with a Happy Ending, Be More Chill au, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Inspired by Be More Chill, Squips (Be More Chill), how we wanted be more chill to end
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-21
Updated: 2020-07-05
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:54:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24310048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heymrbusiness/pseuds/heymrbusiness
Summary: Lance and Pidge are the uncool best friends at their high school. But what happens when Lance is sick of being the loser, the geek, or whatever?BE MORE CHILL AU, except I changed the plot a bit to fit the ship in the musical we care about more :)
Relationships: Allura/Shiro (Voltron), Lance & Pidge | Katie Holt, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Kudos: 2





	1. Prologue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith has a little conversation in the middle of the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi guys :) i've got everything planned out, and i'm obsessed with this idea, so i'm finally writing it.
> 
> chapter is meant to take place during "Jeremy's Theme (Instrumental)"
> 
> the next chapter should be up today :)

It twitched. Deep in the farthest part of the brain, it felt something. A sense, if you will. It felt itself gain power and knowledge very often, but not like this. It knew something. It sensed something

"Lance McClain," it muttered. The brain started to power as Keith woke up.

"What, the tallass?" he muttered, half asleep. He was probably mad it woke him up at 2:45 in the morning with school in just a few hours, but it didn't mind. It knew something that could help them.

"He's going to need my help," it insisted to Keith, appearing in his room, only mentally. "You have to tell him about us."

"When? It's almost 3 am," Keith whined, turning over in his bed. A shock flew through his body, making him jump out of bed with a yelp. "Jesus! It's not like I can tell him right now, I don't have any way to contact him."

"You have to obey," it commanded. "At school today, you'll tell Lance about us."

"That guy's not worth it, he's helpless," Keith insisted, but it only glared back.

"So were you, Keith," it told him angrily. "You were hopeless, and yet, look where you are now. You don't want to go back to how you were freshman year, hmm? You know how it feels to be like him. So I'll say it one more time." It stalked closer to him. Keith knew as well as it did that it could hurt him all it wanted to. "You will tell Lance about us, today at school. Got it?"

"Fine, I've got it," Keith sighed. "Can I please just go to sleep now?"

It didn't answer, just nod curtly. Keith rolled his eyes, falling back onto his bed. It shocked him one more time, just to assert dominance. Keith whined and set his hands on the back of his neck, shoving his face into his pillow.

Downstairs, music blared and beer bottles exploded on the ground with loud glass shattering. Keith covered his ears and whimpered quietly.

It smirked, however. Lance McClain would be their saving grace.


	2. I Just Wanna Survive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance McClain goes to school and has an average day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello!! i hope you like everything, and i hope all the characters at least kinda fit the role for you ? (ps i know shiro is gay but it's just for the story. tbh so is jake probably, so if that helps? idk, i feel really bad for making shiro straight, but that's just how the story goes)
> 
> this chapter is supposed to take place during "More Than Survive"
> 
> k, hope you like it :")

_Why won't it load? Why won't it LOAD? God, this thing is shit!_

Lance accidentally glanced at the time and had to do a doubletake. _Shit, it's not already 6:30, is it?_ Lance pushed the covers off of his body and reached for his pants, laying pathetically under his bed. Now he'll be uncomfortable all damn day, which isn't very odd for him, but still annoying. Quickly getting dressed, Lance took a quick look in the mirror and tried to fix his hair. _Nevermind, it's pointless._

He walked across the hallway and into the bathroom. He scrubbed at his teeth with his toothbrush uselessly, knowing that today was going to be like every other. He almost dozed off in his own thoughts until a figure wandered into the room: very tall, very tired, and very in need of pants.

" _Ay dios mio_ , Dad, have you ever heard of pants?" Lance whined, spitting into the sink. He looked up at his dad in the mirror, trying to avoid looking at his lower half that should be wearing more than underwear.

Mr. McClain shrugged, tying his robe tighter around his abdomen. "We're all men in this house, pretend we're in the army. That's what I had to do when I was in the army, _mijo_. You know, back when I was-"

"Aren't you driving me to school today?" Lance interrupted, not even looking at his dad. He could practically hear his dad's face fall.

"Oh. I...I'm sorry, Lance, but-"

Lance turned around and shut down his dad quickly. "Just...please have clothes on when I come home," he insisted, walking out of the bathroom. He heard a faint "ten-hunt!" from the bathroom as he ran down the stairs. He grabbed his blue backpack that hung on the post on the bottom of the stairs and shoved his feet into his shoes angrily.

So, now what? Should he take the bus? A junior on the bus is weak as hell. But walking in the early September weather will make him smell awful and he'll be covered in sweat. He can't even choose a way to get to school. How pathetic was that? Lance rolled his eyes at himself and opened the front door. _I'll just take the bus_ , he decided, locking the door behind him. Lance sulkily walked to the bus stop.

When he got to school, Lance was overwhelmed by all the kids already in the hallway. He'd gone to high school for two years, and now was going on his third, but he'd never be used to everyone. Sighing, he ducked his head low and hunched over. He just didn't wanna run into Keith.

The only problem was his locker was absolutely swarmed with people. Nyma, the hottest girl in school, had a locker right next to his. Without fail, Romelle, her best friend/minion (nobody really knows), was always there. Either way, Nyma and Romelle were the prettiest and most popular girls in school, and of course, his locker was so close to theirs that he couldn't even see his locker. Hunk, the school gossip, pushes through the crowd that's slowly starting to break away as it gets later, and stops right in front of Nyma. Nyma was currently talking to Romelle. "So Hunk Garrett said that Luca told Shiro that she'd only have sex with him if she beat him at pool, and then she lost at pool. Deliberately!"

"That's so awesome," Romelle said, dozing off. Nyma turned around so fast it almost gave Lance whiplash.

"Romelle!" Nyma scolded. Romelle immediately backed off, stuttering.

"I mean, slutty!" She forced a laugh, tucking hair behind her ear. Hunk tried to continue the story, but Nyma glared until he left. Poor guy.

Nyma locked eyes with Lance and rolled her eyes, fake gagging. "Ugh, he's like, totally getting off on that!"

Lance's eyes widened. "No! I was just trying to, uh, get to my locker, so if you could just...?"

She sighed. "That guy is so weird," Nyma insisted to Romelle, slamming her locker shut. Romelle, however, took a last look at him.

"I've literally never noticed him before," Romelle said, following Nyma quickly. Well, that's just great. Lance ducked his head again, walking quickly to his locker before making contact with something smaller than him. _Shit._

"Don't touch me, tallass!" Keith yelled, shoving Lance a bit.

"Sorry! I was just trying to get to my-" before he could finish, Keith spun Lance around so that he was facing Lance's backpack. Keith went silent for a second, but Lance couldn't exactly tell why.

Keith pulls Lance's shoulder so that his ear is at his height. "You wash this off, you're dead!" Keith threatened, right before running off to class.

Lance gathered some class stuff from his locker and turned to get to his first period. Time to navigate the hallways. He looks around for something to focus on and sees a poster on the other side of the hallway. He stared on it and didn't look away, trying to avoid any and all eye contact. He couldn't even read the poster until he got closer. A sign-up for the after-school play!

 _Shit!_ It's basically a sign-up sheet to be called gay. And he's been staring at it this entire time! Now everyone's gonna think he wants to sign up for it, even thought he definitely does _not_. He turns left and catches a glance of a girl, applying chapstick at the mirror of her locker. Lance made a noise that sounded a lot like "sngh" and ran backwards around the wall again, and pressed his back to the surface. Oh no.

Allura Altea! Only the prettiest girl to exist ever. No big deal! It wasn't like Lance had been in love with her for years, since before middle school. _Okay, okay, no big deal, be cool_ , Lance told himself. He took a deep breath and hung the left again.

As he walked by, holding his breath, Lance stared at his shoes. Oh, they were very interesting shoes. They were...bright red. Yeah, that's all he could come up with. Allura was much more interesting, but she couldn't know that. She had to think that these shoes were the most interesting shoes in the universe. That they, like, were worn by Michael Jordan, or something. Or maybe-

"Excuse me?"

Lance turned around, only to realize that Allura had spoken to him. He made another "sngh" noise and tried to formulate words. "Uh, yeah?"

"Um, I think someone wrote on your backpack?"

Lance's eyes widened as he took off his backpack and took a look at it. Sure enough, in big, black, thick letters, someone had written "BOYF". The hell did that even mean? Keith did it, obviously, but for what? Oh God, and he'd been walking around school like it was nothing! Like there was nothing on his bag! Lance looked up at Allura, who seemed a bit concerned. While this would normally be the best day of his life, he couldn't seem to articulate words. After trying to say something back, he gave up, dashing off to his class.

_Well, that was smooth!_

The day came and went, slowly, but surely. Eventually, lunch came, as it does, and Lance wandered around to find an empty table after grabbing his lunch. Now all he had to do was wait. He took a bite out of his nasty cheeseburger. _Where the hell was she?_ He watched time pass and as lunch passed, he was pretty much sure she wasn't at school today. Maybe he should text her?

Glancing up quickly, he caught sight of a short person in a red hoodie covered in patches. Headphones covered their ears, and while their back was to Lance, he knew who that was.

"Pidge, hey!"

Pidge turned around, her hood mostly falling off of her head in the process. She smiled when she made eye contact with Lance, walking over. "How's it hangin'?" Pidge said back, sitting across from him. "Sorry I was so late, I went to get sushi and a slushie for lunch."

"Where's the sushi?" Lance laughed, giving her a loud high five. 

Pidge shrugged. "Ate it," she laughed. "It was negimaki, and like, super good! Oh my God, and the guy at 7-11 was _totally_ giving me eyes, and like, look at this! That's a lot of slushie! What if he was into me?"

"Shut up," Lance laughed weakly.

"Yeah, yeah, you know I'm kidding," Pidge giggled. She quickly noticed Lance's sour mood. "Dude, you look like ass. What's wrong?"

He grabbed his backpack and pathetically dropped it on the table, showing Pidge the writing on his backpack. "'BOYF'. Keith wrote it. Literally what does that even mean?"

Pidge took a look at it and started laughing. She grabbed her backpack, a green one that she somehow managed to keep clean since freshman year, and put it on the table right next to Lance's backpack. On hers, it said "RIENDS". Lance connected the dots.

"My parents would be thrilled!" Pidge laughed.

"I hate this school," he growled. "You're not even a boy! That's like, misgendering you! God, he's such an asshole!"

Pidge shrugged. "They know that. They just like to be mean." She took a sip of her blue slushie. "I don't take it offensively. Besides, I'm not a boy and I've never been a boy, so at least they're not being transphobic...technically. I don't know. But I don't really care."

Lance wasn't so easily convinced. "You're still a girl, and they should say you are."

She sighed. "Yeah. That's true. But if they're gonna be mean to someone, at least it's me and not someone else."

Lance rolled his eyes. "I still hate this school."

"Don't we all?" Pidge went on her phone, scrolling through some kind of social media until she jumped again. "Oh, dude, I just remembered! I saw on Discovery that humanity has stopped evolving!"

Lance looked back up at her and titled his head to the side slightly. "Is that...a good thing?"

Pidge gave him a look that read _duh!_ "I mean, survival of the fittest. But 'cause of technology, you don't need to be strong or anything anymore to survive. Which means," she said to a tune, "there's never been a better time in history to be lame!"

Lance scoffed lightly, looking away for a second and accidentally hyper-fixating on an important sight. _This isn't happening._

"I mean, why do you need to be cool when you could be-"

"Signing up for the play."

Pidge raised an eyebrow. "I was gonna say getting stoned in my basement."

"Shut up!" Lance said, dismissing her joke. "I meant, look who's signing up for the play!"

Both looked to see Allura Altea writing her name on the after-school play sign-up sheet. "Oh," Pidge sighed, turning her body to face Lance again. "Yeah, she signs up for the plays and the musicals every year. She's kinda known as the theatre kid, Lance."

Before Lance knew what he was doing, he got out of his seat. It was almost out-of-body as he walked across the hall. Lance could feel Pidge's confused stare on his neck, but he didn't stop. _Who cares what happens? Allura signed up!_ Lance grabbed the pen and signed his name on the sheet.

"GAY!"

Lance knew this was coming. He hung his head as people laughed. He had never been sure why that specific group of popular kids thought it was funny to be gay, but old habits die hard, he guesses. Turning, Lance saw Pidge, who had turned around once again. She saw her shoulders slump and she gave him a sympathetic look, giving him a hand motion asking him to come back where he was. Before he started walking back, he heard Nyma say "I like gay people," through laughs.

He sat down across from Pidge again. "You," she laughed a bit, "you, Lance McClain, are gonna be in the school play?"

"I...guess?" he muttered.

Pidge smiled. "Damn, you're whipped," she giggled. Once she saw his face fall, she reached for his hand comfortingly. "Hey, you're gonna be fine, I'm just teasing."

Lance felt warm, but it felt kinda delayed. He saw Allura about a minute ago, and he just starts to blush now. "Okay," he sighs.

The bell for the start of passing period came way too soon. He waved goodbye to Pidge, who had promised him a ride home from school, and sulked to his next class. He's never gonna be cool, or popular, or even liked much. He's just left out. If someone would just help him, he was sure he could change. Pidge couldn't teach him much, but it wasn't like he minded her company. Until he could figure out how to survive properly, he had her, and that was okay by him.


	3. Mad Gigantic Feelings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the first meeting for play rehearsal, and Lance is trying so hard to articulate around Allura.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello!! sorry i've been gone for a while, i lost a bit of motivation. but i reread the first chapters and gained interest again. this chapter is less plance, more plot development. hope that's alright!!
> 
> this chapter is supposed to take place before and during "I Love Play Rehearsal", as well as "More Than Survive (Reprise)" from the Broadway show.
> 
> k, hope you like it :")

"C'mon, dude!"

Pidge shoved Lance right in front of the door. "You've known that you signed up for the school play for two whole weeks," she crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow, " _and_ your auditions are in, like, a week. You can't get cold feet now."

Lance turned to her. "But what if everyone thinks I'm weird?"

Pidge scoffed. "Everyone already thinks you're weird. And if you don't do this, I'll mock you for the rest of my life. Now, go! Go talk to her!"

"I don't think that I-"

Another shove, this time so hard that Lance pushed on the doors and fell into the room. The doors swung closed behind him, and Allura glanced up for a second before looking back down at her phone. As if that whole thing was normal.

Lance turned around, wide-eyed and mouth agape. "What the heck?" he mouthed to Pidge, who shrugged as a response. She dramatically blew him a kiss with a big humorous smirk plastered on her face. Lance snorted, pretending to grab it out of the air, and threw the imaginary kiss back at her. Pidge's jaw dropped, so much to the point where it was clearly sarcastic, and flipped him off. Of course, with the thumb sticking out too, because both had agreed it was much ruder that way.

"I'll be waiting in the car," Pidge mouthed. She still had her fake angry facade on her face, but as she put her headphones on and turned, a smirk crept up her lips.

Lance turned around to find a seat. He was immediately greeted with Allura's piercing blue eyes, which were focused on him. "Ah! Yo!" Lance shouted fleetingly. He wanted to hibernate into his hoodie for the rest of his life. Allura had seen that whole exchange!

"Yo...?" Allura responded weakly, laughing a bit. She seemed confused. Of course she was confused, that whole thing was probably really weird to see.

"I- um," Lance stuttered, "is this where you, uh, meet? For play rehearsal, that is."

"No," Allura shook her head. "This is where you meet for the swim team."

 _Shit!_ Lance nodded awkwardly, shoving his hands in his pockets and hunching over again. He turned around, reaching to pull the door open and reevaluate every life choice he's ever made, until Allura called out. "Wait, I was joking!"

Lance should've known that. Allura wasn't on the swim team. Now it was even more awkward when he turned again, facing Allura. He hesitantly walked over to sit near her. Not next to, but near, because Lance doesn't know if he could breathe properly if he was too close to her.

"Was that your girlfriend?" Allura stirred up conversation.

While Lance appreciated the proper gender terms for her, he still felt his face light on fire. "Who? Pidge? No way!"

Allura raised an eyebrow. "Is that her name? Pidge? I don't think I've heard the name before. It's cute! I like it."

"Well, it's not actually her name," Lance rambled. "Her real name is Katie, but I gave her the nickname 'Pidge' when we were really little, 'cause she used to call her shoes 'pidges', and looking back, it _was_ pretty cute, but uh..." he noticed how much he had been word vomiting. "Um, I'm Lance." 

"Allura," she responded, as if he didn't know already. "I...um, are you okay?"

 _Oh no. Oh God. I messed this up, it's over._ Lance let out some incoherent noise before attempting to answer. "What?"

"You just seem kinda nervous," Allura reasoned.

Lance scoffed, waving his hand like it was nothing. "No!" he insisted. "I always..." _Do not finish that sentence. I swear Lance, if you-_ "...sweat this much." _You're dumb. You're so dumb. Why would you ever say something like that? That's ridiculous!_

She laughed, though. Lance automatically assumed she was laughing at him, because obviously what he said was crazy. However, Allura opened her mouth to speak. "I get it!" she giggled.

Lance raised an eyebrow. _Get it? How could she possibly get it?_ Unless she too was hopelessly in love with someone who would never notice her, she couldn't possibly "get it." Allura didn't make him wait.

"You're a virgin," she decided proudly. Lance's eyes widened and his heartbeat picked up pace.

_Is it that obvious?_

"First play rehearsal!" she gushed. Lance let himself breathe.

_Okay. Less obvious than I thought._

He smiled awkwardly. "You think I'm nervous about the play!" Lance realized.

"Why else would you be shaking...a lot?" Allura asked. She studied him with such ease and nonchalance like it was something that she just did. And it was a curious kind of look, like Lance was a science project she was taking notes on. She was probably judging him. But she honestly had every right too, since he was quite a sight. And in no way was that a compliment.

"Yeah, um, I'm totally freaked, haha!" Lance wanted to die after audibly saying the word "haha." _Literally who does that?_ If Allura wasn't in the room and he was all alone, he'd be cussing himself out.

He must've made a face, because Allura reached out to him comfortingly. "It's okay. I'm actually a bit jealous. You never forget your first. Play rehearsal! You know, coming here is the highlight..."

"Of...your day?" Lance guessed.

Allura scoffed. "Yeah right! Of my _life!"_ she raved, getting a faraway dreamy look in her eyes. "I absolutely love play rehearsal."

Lance noticed that they had kept a steady conversation. Progress, amazing! All he had to do now was keep that winning streak, and maybe, just maybe, he'd become friends with her. That was enough.

"How come?" he asked her.

Allura shrugged. "What could be better? It's the best! I don't think I could ever love anything more than musical theatre." She paused, but seemed to decide against stopping. "I mean, the depression I feel after it ends? Unlike anything I've felt. It's so perfect."

"Depression?" Lance quoted.

"Well, like, not depression as in, 'kill myself' depression," Allura explained. "I just use the word to emphasize my point! 'Cause that's what the word originally meant anyway. Deep sadness."

Lance nodded. "So...you're really passionate about theatre?"

Allura smiled. "Oh, of course!" she agreed. "But I'm passionate about a lot of things, ya know? Like...like gun control? I care a lot about that. And I care a lot about cats. Even the musical about 'em, although it's kinda weird. Oh, and I love patterned socks! Super passionate about those. And like if, if I'm living up to who I'm supposed to be. As a person." The change in mood almost gave Lance whiplash. "Oh yeah. I also have ADD, so..." she trailed off. "What was I saying?"

Lance opened his mouth to answer. "Oh, right!" Allura interrupted.

Lance had to smile at that one.

"I also love rehearsal because you have directions right in front of you," she explained. "You're not worried about what comes next, 'cause you know. It's in your hands and on paper, highlighted in the ugliest shade of yellow you've ever seen. Life becomes super easy and relaxing. When you follow the script, you know what's going to happen." Her eyes widened. "Was that too dark? Sorry. But I'm just being honest, ya know? And I don't think I'm the only one who'd say such a thing."

"No, no, please, keep going," he assured her. She beamed once again.

"Yeah, um, so anywho, the point is: life doesn't work out the way it does in theatre." Allura turned to look at Lance. "I mean, even though Jack Kelly sold himself out to Pulitzer, Katherine still loved him in the end. And Davey and Crutchie forgave him, along with all the other newsies. Plus, they won the strike." She snapped her fingers in a sort of afterthought. "And Abuela Claudia may've died, but Sonny still convinced Usnavi to stay in Washington. Usnavi also got together with Vanessa. And in the same show, Nina Rosario dropped out of Stanford, but she came back home, reconnected with Benny and fell in love with him, and in the end, gets to go back to school! That stuff just doesn't happen in real life."

Lance could only assume those were references to Broadway shows. He didn't recognize anything about either examples, except the word "newsies" which was the title of a well-known musical anyway. All he could do was smile and nod.

"'Cause," Allura ran a hand through her hair, "the only time _I'm_ anyone's center of attention is when I'm playing Ariel or Wednesday Addams." She smiled fondly at this memory. "Did you see me as Wednesday? That was really one of my best roles. I totally _crushed it_ in my rendition of 'Pulled.' That show is really so much fun, even if the characterization is so off. I mean, change Wednesday for a boy? It really makes you think! There really aren't enough strong female roles in theatre anymore, or ever really, especially high school theatre. Do you find that? 'Cause I totally find that!"

She looked at him expectantly. So he nodded, even though he knew little to nothing about theatre. "Yeah! Definitely."

"Anyway, it doesn't matter how much I try to, I can't cut down the reasons why I just love theatre rehearsals, musical or play. I get so happy. And it's so universally beautiful. I love playing all these different people, like one second I'm the dramatic and sexy Juliet, but the next, I'm the commanding and intelligent Blanche Dubois!" Allura put her hands on her heart and leaned her head back, sighing contently. There was something so fun in watching her swoon.

She turned to him again. "Most people do one thing their entire lives. But that just sounds so awful to me! There are so many things I want to pursue, and I just can't choose which. That's why I'm probably going to major in something simple and then minor in little things when I get to college. And...why am I even telling this to you?"

Lance's heart dropped. He knew this was too good to be true. It was only a matter of time before she found him annoying anyway.

"Guess a part of me wants too."

His head shot up. "Really?"

Allura hummed. "There's also a part of me that wants to do this!" she proclaimed. Allura started to kick her legs out aggressively as she raised her arms over her head. She let out a funny high pitched noise that reminded Lance of Pidge's Killbot victory dance. She awkwardly smiled, "uh, so I did it!" It was so endearing how she barely cared about Lance's opinion.

"Anyway..." her hands fidgeted in her lap, "back to play rehearsal. My brain is buzzing and my heart swells. 'Cause, you know, we're here. And actual rehearsal starts so soon!"

Lance smiled. "So uh, where's everyone else?"

Allura sighed. "We've been kinda...lacking...in the membership department as of late. I guess it's just you and me?"

Just then, a flurry of noise was heard from the doors. Both heads turned to watch as the group of the most popular kids walked into rehearsal. Shiro, Nyma, Romelle, Keith, and Hunk all waltzed in, along with a group of other less notable kids following behind, one of which Lance recognized as the Luca girl that Nyma hated so much. Suddenly, the room felt very crowded. And hot. And the noise was almost unbearable.

"Woo-hoo!"

"Let's start this party!"

"Has this theater always been here?"

An older man with curly red hair and a fancy mustache trailed in behind. The director.

"Ah! The popular students have arrived, thank God," he said, the statement clearly meant to be under his breath, but Lance heard it. He looked up and smiled. "Hello everyone! My name is Mr. Coran Smythe, but you can just call me Mr. Smythe. You may recognize me from drama class, or from my full-time-job at Hobby Lobby." Some of the students nodded and ooh-ed. Mr. Smythe nodded. "Yes, thank you. I've been dreaming of the day I get to stage _the_ William Shakespeare's fantastical classic, 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'-"

"Yes!" Allura cheered from next to Lance.

"And today, that dream dies."

Her smile fell and she audibly gasped. "What?"

"And is reborn! Slightly mutated. The school informed me that if the popularity of this company doesn't increase, our funds will be diverted to the _Frisbee Golf Team._ That's humiliating. Which is why _our_ production will be set in a post-apocalyptic future instead of a pastoral forest. Instead of our characters frolicking with fairies, there will be fleeing from zombies!" Mr. Smythe waved his arms wildly as he described the production.

While Lance didn't see anything bad about this, other than the fact that it was really weird, but Allura apparently did. "Don't you care about Shakespeare?"

Mr. Smythe waved it away. "The man is dead! We're over it." He turned back to the group. "Now, we'll be taking a short break so I can eat a hot pocket."

"Woo-hoo!"

"Theatre is easy, yo!"

A bunch of kids followed Mr. Smythe out of the room. Mr. Smythe turned to Romelle, who was also walking out. "So what's the story with Shiro and Luca?"

Though Shiro clearly heard this, he completely ignored Mr. Smythe and the rest of his friends and equals. Instead, Shiro walked over to Allura and Lance. He took one of the chairs next to Allura and turned it around, straddling it once he sat down.

"You were in that play last year!" he said to Allura. "The one where the girl dies."

"You mean 'Romeo & Juliet'?" Allura asked hesitantly.

"Right! You were the girl that dies."

"You mean Juliet?"

Shiro snapped his fingers and pointed at her. "Yes! That was really depressing. But you were really good."

"Thanks..." Allura said, as if she didn't know whether or not that was supposed to be a backhanded compliment.

"I'm Shiro."

"I....know," she responded. "I'm Allura."

"I know," Shiro said. "So, not to sound stupid, but when I saw you die in the play last year...that was like the saddest I’d felt in a long time. It was like, all the pressure I feel to be the best at everything, all the time, my entire life...it suddenly felt so small. And then, when you got up at the end for your victory dance-"

"Oh, um, bow, they're call bows," Allura clarified.

"Yeah! Sorry, the words left my mind," Shiro admitted. "But I remember thinking 'I'm glad that girl's not dead...before I got the chance to know her.' Stupid, right?"

At first, Allura didn't answer. Lance was hoping she wasn't going to. He kinda just wanted this to stop. He was third-wheeling so hard right now. Plus, it was incredibly awkward to sit there in silence as a random guy who was ten times hotter than you confessed his love to the girl you like.

"That's...not stupid at all," Allura confessed. Lance mentally slapped his forehead.

"Cool," Shiro smiled. "Hey, um, a bunch of us were going to hang out at the mall this weekend. Kinda like a cast pre-party. You should join us," Shiro smiled. He stood up to follow the rest of the group. "Well, as they say, 'parting is such sweet'-"

"-sorrow?" Allura finished. Shiro nodded.

His eyes bounced over to Lance. "Oh, dude, I think someone wrote 'BOYF' on your backpack."

Lance sighed. He was well aware. "I...yeah, I know."

Shiro gave him a look of sympathy. "Sorry, dude. People suck sometimes. Try washing it off in the sink." He turned to Allura. "Um...see you later."

And of course, he just _had_ to be a nice person. Lance really wanted to tell him that Shiro's own buddy-buddy Keith was the one who did it. But he was gone anyway. And completely enamored by Allura.

He tried to continue conversation with her. "I - uh..." he tried, still looking at Shiro. _And if you don't do this, I'll mock you for the rest of your life._ "Uh, so I heard that humanity has stopped evolving! That's pretty-"

"I'm sorry, Lance, did you say something?" Allura asked, now turning to face him. Shiro turned again and smiled at her from across the room. It all felt so awkward and weird and embarrassing that he couldn't take it anymore. Lance ran his hand through his hair one more time and mumbled some incoherent excuse of "nevermind" or "no, it's fine." All he could do was take out his phone and scroll through Instagram pathetically. They awkwardly sat next to each other for the rest of the meeting, no conversation.

As soon as the meeting was officially over, Lance booked it as soon as he can. Once again, a take down. He was pretty used to this kinda thing happening at this point in his life. It could've gone worse, though, at least he didn't start panicking and have to go to the nurse's office. Lance texted Pidge, letting her know that he was going to try washing off the marker in the boy's bathroom.

Lance doesn't even need to survive. He just wants Allura to know and care that he exists.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> somewhere in there Lance becomes less Jeremy Heere and more Evan Hansen, and its fine i'm not mad but also like it's kinda annoying but i'm not rewriting this


	4. It's From Japan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance was really just trying to wash off the marker on his backpack. Sadly, that luxury came with the price of confrontation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello!! this is another plot developing chapter, but that's alright, because the next takes place with just them :)
> 
> this chapter is supposed to take place before and during "The Squip Song"
> 
> k, hope you like it :")

His hands were probably red.

He had been scrubbing so long, in fact, that his skin felt like it was going to fall off. But thick black Sharpie on a light blue backpack? Pretty damn hard to scrub off, even with the whole bottle of soap that Lance was using.

The bathroom door swung open and closed with a deep bang. _Shit, shit, shit, shit,shit, shit, shit!_

"I thought I told you not to wash that off."

_SHIT, SHIT, SHIT, SHIT, SHIT, SHIT, SHIT!_

"Oh, uh, where's my homework?" Lance laughed awkwardly, scrubbing harder.

"I'm talking to you, tallass!" Keith insisted. Lance already knew the jig was up when he walked in, but it was still disappointing to hear it.

"Pidge is a girl, you know that, right?" Lance snapped. "She's a girl, she's always been a girl, and you're just a dick for making fun of her body?"

"And why do you care so much?" Keith asked, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. Lance was aware that he blubbered and tried to find words, and that he probably looked dumb. Which probably entertained Keith.

"Because she's my friend," he decided, "and it's just common decency."

He scoffed. "People who are 'just friends' don't care about someone getting made fun of when it happened to them, too."

"Sure they do!" Lance said.

"And how would you know, tallass?" Keith smirked. The unsaid _"you don't have any other friends"_

_"Why do you call me that?" Lance asked, now back to scrubbing his backpack. "I'm really not even that tall. And you're, like, the same height as me."_

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"You'd be a lot taller if you weren't hunched over and scared all the time." Lance turned and noticed that Keith was literally _in the process_ of using a urinal. He never wanted to die more. _Okay, to avoid this problem, all you have to do is move when he isn't looking-_

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"You know, the only thing more pathetic than your shriveled up stance is the way you're trying to sneak into a stall to get away from me."

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_Dammit._

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"Stalls are for girls," Keith mocked. It didn't seem sincere, but Lance ignored it. "You a girl, Lance? You hang out with one. Like, all the time. And you guys aren't even dating. You guys have really never slept together?"

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"No!" Lance protested. "To both of those things! God, how do you even talk to people while you're...y'know...?" He trailed off in that last bit, not really wanting to finish the sentence.

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"Confidence."

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"Maybe watch the floor," he halfheartedly joked, trying to look away. But only then did Keith's head start to swerve very suddenly, ticking sideways, and his foot started tapping, too. He muttered to himself, so quietly and mantra-like that Lance almost didn't notice it. Like he was possessed. Frankly, it was terrifying to Lance. It was something out of a paranormal thriller movie, and he almost started to believe that he was about to die at the hands of some random demon who had acquired Keith.

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It was super creepy.

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"I, uh, just remembered I don't actually have to pee at all, so I'll just-"

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"Don't move."

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Lance never thought he'd hear someone speak to him so menacingly. Especially in the first floor boy's bathroom in the corner of the school. Keith finished what he was doing, then going to wash his hands. He still stood there expectantly, though, listening to what the slightly smaller bully told him. This was probably a trick.

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"You don't remember me in freshman year, do you?" Keith asked, now looking at him.

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"You didn't go here freshman year-"

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Keith punched the wall. Very loudly. Lance swore he heard and felt the walls shake. _Could this kid get any scarier?_ "I did!" he insisted, still looking at Lance. He took a breath. "I did. You just didn't notice. Don't feel bad, nobody did."

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He now gripped the sink so hard that his knuckles turned deathly white. Keith closed his eyes, then looked up in the mirror. "I didn't have a girlfriend, which I didn't need at fourteen anyway, but everyone else did. I was a loser...just like you. If I had a good thing happen to me, it would speed on by and the next day would be like it didn't happen."

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Lance blinked. _Is anime protagonist Keith Kogane giving me his depressing backstory?_

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"And I was really gross. You could ask any girl who knew me, I just _was_. I couldn't get laid if I paid you to, and that's saying a lot. I was helpless, suicidal, so incredibly _tired._ But then," he laughed to himself, which freaked out Lance, "then, I got a SQUIP."

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_What?_ "You got a script? Like, for the school play?"

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"No," Keith rolled his eyes. "Not a script, a SQUIP."

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"I don't know what you're talking about," Lance decided. "I've never heard of it."

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"No, that's the point," Keith explained. "It's top secret can't-find-it-on-Google-shit." He scuffed his shoes against the tiles on the ground. "The thing is from Japan. It stands for Super Quantum Unit Intel Processor. The quantum computer in the pill travels through your body and then implants in your brain. Once it does that, it tells you what to do. How to act. How to be 'cool.'"

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Lance's face paled. _Wait, so this is the moment that health class has been teaching me about for the past ten years?_ "That's not even possible," he insisted.

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Keith shoved him against the wall. "Shut up, tallass!" He quickly got off of Lance, brushing off his hands on his pants. "Sorry. Old habits die hard." Keith sighed walking to lean against the wall once again. "I apologize for treating you like shit, but I only did it 'cause my SQUIP said I had to. But it doesn't think you're a bad guy anymore. Now it thinks you need one too, unless, of course, you're not interested...?" "So, um, it's like...drugs?" he whispered. When Keith laughed, realized how dumb that sounded. Of course it was a drug. It was a _pill,_ what else would it be, a Skittle? Perhaps an M&M?

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"It's better than drugs, Lance."

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_What?_

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"The SQUIP is pre-programmed to help you be cool. And your SQUIP will talk to you directly 'n everything."

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Lance huffed. "So, if you're so cool because of your SQUIP, why are you doing the play? Isn't that _'too gay'_ for you?" he asked, still angry about what happened when he had signed up.

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"I'm doing it 'cause I felt like it," Keith informed him, crossing his arms. "As for my friends? Hunk's doing it for Romelle, Romelle's doing it for Nyma, Nyma's doing it for Shiro, and...I'm pretty sure you know why Shiro's doing it."

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The embarrassment from earlier pent up in Lance's chest again. Right. Allura was totally enamored and stunned by Shiro, just like everyone else. And Shiro felt the same way about her.

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"That's why you need one," Keith reasoned. "It makes you cool. And when you're cool, you rule."

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Lance wanted to laugh at the rhyme, but tried as hard as he could not to. This whole situation was too crazy to laugh.

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"Picture this," Keith proposed. "Right now, you're freshman year me. You're helpless, you look tired, and you're probably suicidal, because who our age isn't? On the school social map, you'd be a little blip. But hypothetically, if you payed the price, you'd get a SQUIP, and you'd be cool, like me." He started to walk forward slowly, intimidatingly, still smirking. "I have a hook-up who works at Payless at the mall. Arusian Park, ten minutes away. The SQUIP is six hundred."

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Lance's eyes just about bugged out of his head. "Six hundred dollars?" he asked incredulously.

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Keith rolled his eyes, as if he was acting spoiled. "It's worth it. Bring the money on Monday. You'll see."

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He opened the door to the bathroom. One more time, he turned back to Lance and smirked knowingly. When the door closed behind Keith, Lance was about ready to either have a panic attack or break out into laughter. _That was the most confusing experience of my life,_ Lance thought. He wrapped his arms around himself, as if he were cold.

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A Super Quantum Unit Intel Processor. A SQUIP.

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End file.
